Tompkins Stairway Garden’s First Annual “Explore Bernal” Fundraising Walk
Jen Norris, Bernal Heights Resident since 1989
Above the Alemany Farmers’ Market in Bernal Heights, a colorfully tiled staircase cuts through a vibrant community garden. Once a neglected piece of City property, used for illegal dumping, a dedicated group of neighbors has transformed this steep slope into the Tompkins Stairway Garden.
On Sunday, October 5, I attended the Tompkins Stairway Garden’s First Annual “Explore Bernal” Fundraising Walk. It was, as promised, an inspiring way to see my neighborhood through new eyes. I left with a deep appreciation for the efforts of the individuals who have worked to create and maintain the many green spaces around Bernal.
As the 40-some attendees partook of coffee, fruit, and bagels, event organizer Vicky Rideout made the initial remarks and introductions. Rideout, alongside architect Andre Rothblatt, who designed the renovated space, began the lengthy process of getting the necessary permissions and funding to create the Tompkins Stairway Garden in 2007. The project was completed in 2019 and featured in an SF Chronicle article at that time.
The Tompkins plot is one of many “unaccepted streets” in San Francisco. There are in total 148 miles of “unaccepted” streets here. Whether because they are too steep, too narrow, or no one’s driveway opens into them, “unaccepted streets” are not supported by the City. It falls to neighboring properties to maintain them. The community gardeners, who have plots in the Tompkins Gardens, pay a nominal annual use fee and donate hours to tend the public portions of the Gardens. Larger facility maintenance initiatives, like repairing broken stair tiles, require additional funding. Unfortunately, the Tompkins Stairway Garden was one of the many small organizations that lost funds as a result of the financial malfeasance and recent failure of the San Francisco Parks Alliance, which had served as their fiscal sponsor. The Stairway Garden is now under the umbrella of the fiscally sound Greening Projects. The Fundraising Walk raised $6K, an amount equivalent to the lost balance.
Over three hours and 2 miles, we visited several former “earthquake shacks.” Walk San Francisco leader Karen Rhodes and local historian David Gallagher shared information about the 5,600 refugee cottages, as they were originally called, erected in the City’s parks following the 1906 earthquake. The majority of these structures were later moved, by their owners, to plots of land around the Bay. Bernal was a popular destination due to its reasonably priced land and solid foundation.
Along our circular route, we visited and learned about local public space development projects at all stages of development, from completed (Tompkins Stairway Garden), to mid-point (Ogden Avenue Gardens), to nascent (Good Prospect Community Garden), all under the aegis of Greening Projects, whose CCO Mike Doherty provided background on each site along the way. They stopped in at the Bernal Heights Rec Center Plaza, where new potted trees and a woodchip-filled children’s play area have been added to the blacktop as an interim step to the Rec Center’s ongoing improvement project.
There are many ways to get involved with local greening projects. One can sign up for a garden plot at a community garden, participate in monthly weeding or clean-up days, help plan future events, or donate funds. A great place to learn about volunteer opportunities around Bernal and San Francisco is the Greening Projects website https://greeningprojects.org/